General Treatments » Jaw Problems - sci splints
Many people are unaware that problems including migraines, headache and head tension, neck pains and sleep difficulties can be caused by dental health issues. Problems with wear on the teeth and with the jaw can lead to a range of conditions that can be difficult to diagnose, but are actually easy to treat with the use of dental splints.
Bruxism is the medical term for a common dental problem; grinding your teeth. Many people will experience bruxism at some point in their life, as it can frequently be a symptom of stress as well as a side-effect of other medical problems and of some prescription medications. As well as grinding your teeth while you sleep, patients with bruxism also often clench their teeth during the day. Repeated clenching and grinding of your teeth can wear them down and can cause other problems, including jaw pain and headaches.
In a lot of cases bruxism is temporary and will go away on its own, but if it persists and is untreated it can damage the teeth and surrounding structures because up to 20 times the normal pressure can be exerted during night-time tooth clenching. Dental splints are an effective treatment for bruxism.
Bruxism can also be a symptom of another common but often undiagnosed condition, temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD. The temporomandibular joint is the joint that hinges the jaw on to the skull. Some of the main symptoms are pain, discomfort and difficulty with moving the jaw, for example when you chew food. There are a range of causes for TMD, but dental splints are one of the most common treatments for the condition.
At Farnham Road Dental Practice we use Sleep Clench Inhibitor (SCI) splints to treat bruxism, TMD and a range of jaw problems. We have treated several hundred patients with these splints over the past 10 years and haven't had a single unhappy patient.
SCI splints work by preventing you from clenching and grinding your teeth together while you sleep, thus alleviating bruxism and certain types of TMD, and preventing associated health problems. The splints also help to keep your teeth healthy by preventing excessive wear from night-time grinding.
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